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By Ben Blanchard and Jane ChungREUTERS • Monday April 8, 2013 7:00 AM

BEIJING — China yesterday warned against “troublemaking” on its doorstep, in an apparent rebuke
to North Korea, and the United States said it was postponing a missile test to help calm high
tension on the divided Korean peninsula.

But in the midst of what some described as an unprecedented ratcheting up of rhetoric from
Beijing, China began running into criticism from influential political voices in Washington who
blamed North Korea’s closest ally for not doing enough to avert the danger.

The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been threatening the United States and South
Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to its third nuclear weapon test in
February.

Pyongyang’s anger appears heightened by U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. But most
analysts say it has no intention of starting a conflict that would bring its own destruction and
instead is out to wring concessions from a nervous international community.

The North told diplomats late last week to consider leaving Pyongyang because of the tension,
but embassy staffs have stayed put.

South Korea said it was ready for any kind of action that the North’s unpredictable leaders
might make — including a possible missile launch — by Wednesday, after which the North said it
could not guarantee diplomats’ safety.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, did not name
North Korea but said no country “should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into
chaos for selfish gain.”

Stability in Asia, he said, “faces new challenges, as hot-spot issues keep emerging and both
traditional and non-traditional security threats exist.”

Yesterday, the Chinese foreign ministry expressed “grave concern” at rising tension and said
China had asked North Korea to “ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats in North Korea, in
accordance with the Vienna Convention and international laws and norms.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman said Xi’s comments were unprecedented for the North
Korea crises that have flared periodically in recent history.

“It suggests to me, as I’ve watched the ratcheting up of frustration among Chinese leaders over
the last many years, that they’ve probably hit the 212-degree boiling point as it relates to North
Korea,” he told CNN yesterday.

U.S. senators expressed disappointment in China’s response.

Republican Sen. John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized China’s
“failure to rein in what could be a catastrophic situation” and said Beijing could step up pressure
by using its influence over North Korea’s economy.

“Chinese behavior has been very disappointing,” McCain said on CBS’
Face the Nation program.

“More than once, wars have started by accident, and this is a very serious situation,” he
said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, an influential Democrat from New York, agreed with McCain on the same
program. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina blamed China for the current crisis,
telling NBC’s
Meet the Press that Beijing is propping up a “crazy regime” for fear that reunification
would leave a “democratic Korea” next door.

In Washington, a defense official said a long-scheduled test of the Minuteman III
intercontinental missile, due to take place at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, would
be postponed.

“This test … has been delayed to avoid any misperception or miscalculation in light of recent
tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the official said on Saturday. “This is the logical, prudent and
responsible course of action to take.”